1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to determining phase component fractions and phase flow rates for a fluid mixture flowing in a conduit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the petroleum industry, as in many other industries, ability to monitor flow of fluids in process pipes in real-time offers considerable value. Oil and gas operators measure individual oil/water/gas flow rates within an overall production flow stream containing a mixture of these three phase components. This information may be used to improve and optimize well production, allocate royalties, prevent corrosion based on the amount of water, and determine the well performance.
Production from gas wells may also include a significant liquid content (water, hydrocarbon oil, condensate, or combinations thereof). Flows with relatively high gas amounts with respect to liquid amounts (e.g., around or below 5% liquid by volume) are described as wet-gas flows and represent the high gas-volume-fraction (GVF) end of multiphase flows. Various prior flowmeters attempt to enable flow rate measurements or determinations of the phase components of these high-GVF flows using methodologies that are complex and difficult to implement, yet still yield only mixed results.